Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 5:

Six Versus One

"Why in the world do we have to fight the most strongest youkai in the Japan?"

"Silence. It is Waru-sama's orders. Do you want to defy him?"

"No. But you know it's going to be a waste of time. I heard stories about the Inu no Taisho's eldest son, and from what I heard, he could easily wipe out enemies in a single strike."

A group of six demons, who were currently in their human form, were walking through the forest. They were wearing armor and had swords at their hips. Earlier, they were shocked when they received an order to attack the well-known Lord of the West. Nonetheless, they obeyed even though their chances of winning against the demon lord are close to none. They weren't sure why they were sent and what Waru-sama was thinking, but no one dared to question his intentions.

"I wonder why Waru-sama didn't send Mouretsu. I bet he can win against that demon lord," Ryokuu, a young member of the group, mumbled.

"Mouretsu? Who's that?" Seichi, another member, asked.

"Seichi, you don't know? Mouretsu-sama is one of the youkai in charge of the castle. Though, I've never seen him leave his chambers before," Kirochi, the eldest among them, answered.

"Nope, never heard of him."

"From what I heard, long time ago, Mouretsu-sama was one of the strongest youkai to ever exist. But then, somehow, they managed to put a seal on him and he was under a spell to sleep for eternity."

"So... has the seal been broken?"

"I don't think so. Heard that his seal was the hardest to break since his power was terrifyingly strong," Ryokuu commented and shrugged. "Himitsu-sama and Jikiko-sama were also in the same state as Mouretsu when Waru-sama found them. Anyway, if I'm not mistaken, Waru-sama was the one that broke both of their seals."

"How do you know all this?" Seichi questioned.

"Word has been passed down to me," Ryokuu said with a playful smile.

"So they're just rumors," Seichi huffed. "We don't know what's real, and what's not."

"Pfft, why do you guys even care? That guy—Mouretsu whatever—and the others are weird," Toroto, known with his teenage attitude, said in a bored tone. "Besides, like you said, we don't know if it's true. Rumors are just rumors."

"By others, you mean Jikiko-sama and Himitsu-sama?" Kirochi asked with an eyebrow raised, ignoring Toroto's uninterest in these 'rumors'.

"Yeah, them," Toroto said with his arms behind his head and his chin tilted slightly upwards. "I heard the same thing... the rumors that all of them were sealed for years, and Waru-sama was the one who released them all, or at least released Jikiko-sama and Himitsu-sama. I'm not sure about Mouretsu, though. Pretty sure that guy is either dead, or his seal is still on him. The only thing I know is that... they had been going around with no activity last year, but now, dunno what they had been doing, but it's starting."

Kirochi stopped walking. "What's starting?"

Toroto looked at the corner of his eye. "Their plan."

The other two who haven't been talking, which are the twins, Rima and Mari, exhanged a look between each other. They had been listening to the other's conversation and were now wondering what their lord was planning. The only thing they were given were orders, and not the reason behind it. They had heard that Waru-sama was working on a plan, but that's all they knew. Something about it told them that their lord was hiding something.

All six of them immediately bent down, hiding themselves under the bushes when someone had made a signal that Sesshoumaru, their target, was nearby. Their hearts started pounding loudly in their chests when the shockingly demonic aura could be felt by them. It was strong, really strong. Honestly, none of them should be sent to fight him. One feeling at the demonic aura, and they all knew that they were going to lose.

"We shouldn't be here," Ryokuu whispered, his voice filled with fear. "He's way out of our league. What was Waru-sama thinking?!"

"I agree. He should've sent someone stronger. We're just ants compared to him," Seichi said with a slight nod.

"I don't understand," Kirochi said and dug his nails in the dirt. "Are we sent here to die?"

"Reveal yourself."

All six of them were frozen at the cold and hard voice. Their eyes were widened, and their bodies won't move even when their instincts were kicking—telling them to run away. This wasn't the plan at all. They were suppose to do something like an ambush, where they attack the target unexpectedly, not allow the target to find them. With a count of three, all of them gave a nod at each other and stood up, meeting the deathly gaze by those two golden orbs.

They were shocked when they saw a little girl and a tiny toad accompanying Sesshoumaru. No, the toad doesn't interest them, it was only the girl. By the looks of it, she was human. They weren't sure whether Waru-sama knew or not, but they weren't informed about a human girl with Sesshoumaru.

The human girl looked at them with widened and blinking honey eyes, as if wondering what the heck they were doing, hiding themselves in the bushes like a bunch of cowards.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "Explain your purpose here."

So much for an ambush, they had failed the very first thing they were suppose to do.

"We came here to fight you, Sesshoumaru," Kirochi said, shoving all his fear out of the window and displaying a brave image.

Sesshoumaru showed no hint of reaction to his sentence. Instead, he merely turned his face towards the little girl beside him, catching her attention.

"Rin, you will stay away with Jaken."

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin said with a nod and looked at Jaken. "Let's go, Jaken-sama."

Jaken cast Sesshoumaru a worried look before obeying his master's orders. The toad grabbed Ah-Un and hurried to someplace a little further away with Rin, knowing that a battle was bound to happen. They weren't out of Sesshoumaru's sight, but far enough to avoid from getting involved in battle.

"Rima, Mari, you stay back first," Toroto said and cracked his knuckles, a smirk appeared on his mouth, having forgotten his earlier fear as excitement was coursing through his veins. "Let the guys handle this first."

The twins rolled their eyes and took a step back, allowing the guys to handle it. Even though Toroto said that, but that doesn't mean they weren't involved. One way or another, they were going to fight the demon lord as well.

Kirochi, Ryokuu, Toroto and Seichi surrounded Sesshoumaru, their hands placed on the hilt of their swords. They noted that Sesshoumaru had two, but it wasn't as if he was going to use both of them at once. Besides, it looked like he only had one arm, since one sleeve of his kimono was swaying against the wind as if nothing was holding it back. If their guess was correct, that would give them an advantage.

"Now!" Kirochi shouted and all of them charged at the demon lord at once.

A very, very, faint smile played on Sesshoumaru's lips (to those who knew him well, they would immediately know that the outcome would be bad) as he closed his eyes. While all four youkai charged at him, he barely swung his arm before a glowing green whip slashed at all four of them, throwing them to the solid ground at the same time.

The group were caught off guard at the whip attack, their cheeks stinging and... poison. They all groaned as pain shot from their face and body. They thought that outnumbering the demon lord, who by the way has only one arm, was an already big enough advantage, but it seemed that they weren't even close to being even. They shouldn't have underestimated the inu-daiyoukai, especially after feeling his demonic aura.

Toroto was the first to get on his feet again and charged at Sesshoumaru with his sword. He swung his sword at the demon lord, which was caught effortlessly by the magenta striped hand. Toroto tried to use force to get the sword to slice at the demon lord's head, or at least make his hand bleed for holding the edge of the blade, but none of it worked.

Sesshoumaru threw the weak youkai to the ground by swinging the opposite side of where the youkai held, forcing the youkai to release his own sword and flying to the ground.

Is he a brick wall or something?! Toroto thought as he wiped the blood that dripped from his mouth due to his face-first landing. His bottom an arm was aching, and it wasn't helping that his cheek still stung. Sesshoumaru was now fighting off with his other comrades... with his sword, and not with the ones at his hip. How did it end up like this?

Kirochi, Seichi and Ryokuu attacked Sesshoumaru at the same time, swinging their swords and clashing with the demon lord's sword—which was actually their friend's. Even though it was three against one at the moment, but Sesshoumaru's swordplay was beyond good, and was blocking each of their attack.

"Oi, Toroto!" Kirochi shouted as his eyes were focused on Sesshoumaru. "Since you gave your own sword to this guy, how about you do it now?!"

"Right!"

Before Sesshoumaru could turn his head and know what it meant, the three he was fighting leapt back in sync, and a barrier appeared around him. Sesshoumaru, with his face unfazed, touched the barrier wall and felt it. It wasn't a barrier that purifies his demonic energy.

It was a barrier that suppresses his demon power.

Toroto panted as he kept his focus on the barrier, his mind focused solely on the sphere thing. The other three ran over to him, joining him in maintaining the barrier.

"Okay, so how long are we able to keep this barrier running?" Ryokuu asked.

"About five minutes. That gives us enough time to finish him off. I can't believe after a week of training with Himitsu-sama, this is all we can manage even with three people working on it," Seichi said and let out a heavy breath. "Still, it's a miracle that he totally didn't expect that."

"Don't lower your guard," Kirochi said and drew his sword. "I'll finish him off. Make sure that the barrier's steady," he then looked at Mari and Rami. "You alright over there, you two?"

Mari was holding Jaken and Rin, while Rima made a barrier around Ah-Un, preventing the dragon from using its powers.

They didn't miss Sesshoumaru's eyes widening very slightly at the sight of Rin and Jaken. They figured that he must've cared about his followers. But it was hard to tell, since his face still remained close to being expressionless.

Kirochi walked closer to Sesshoumaru, his hand gripping tightly on the hilt of his sword.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, no!" Rin shouted and looked at the girl holding her. "Please don't! Please don't hurt Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Mari frowned. "I'm sorry. But we're following orders."

Kirochi reached the front of Sesshoumaru's barrier, facing the demon lord with a smug. Seeing that Sesshoumaru was powerless in there, it made him feel... powerful. All that fear he had earlier was for nothing, since the demon lord was the one that's going to end up dead, and not them. He shouldn't have believed those rumors that said the eldest of Inu no Taisho was strong.

He gazed at the trapped demon lord with mischief in his eyes, expecting for a promotion once he finishes him off.

"Prepare to die, Sesshoumaru—"

"Fool."

Sesshoumaru swung Tokijin, and immediately shattered the barrier three people were maintaining. All of them stood there in shock, as blood splashed out, and Kirochi's detached head rolled on the ground, with his body dropping lifelessly after.

Sesshoumaru gave the other three a bored look before leaping towards them, not giving any of them time to react. A giant slash appeared on all three of their bodies, spluttering out blood before the trio, too, lied on the ground, their body unmoving.

Sesshoumaru turned his head to the twins, their faces horrified at seeing their comrades dead before their eyes. The one holding Ah-Un's barrier dissolved the barrier as she dropped to the ground, her face filled with fear and tears were pricking at the corner of her eyes. The other immediately released Rin and Jaken, allowing the two of them to rush to his side.

Rima, the one who had been holding Ah-Un's barrier, realized that it was no use getting out of this anymore. She embraced death, especially now that her friends were already dead. She couldn't say the same for her sister though, since her twin looked like she definitely doesn't want to die. But it wasn't as if they had a choice. They were going to get killed, which they should've expected from the start.

Sesshoumaru, unexpectedly, lowered Tokijin. He sheathed back his sword and stared at the twins, his eyes filled with anything but warmth.

"What is your purpose of being here?" he asked, his face turning into more of a scowl.

"W-We were ordered to defeat you and b-bring you back with us," Mari, who was crying now, dropped to her knees. "We were... we were just following orders..."

"Enough, Mari," Rima scolded. "You will not betray our master."

"But he sent us to die, Rima!" Mari shouted. "He knew we weren't capable but he still sent us! Some kind of master he is!"

Rima became silent. Her sister was right. Waru-sama was aware that they were dealing with someone far more stronger and yet, he sent their group to deal with it. It was suicide, she knew. But a small part of her was still loyal towards her master. She wasn't sure what Waru-sama was planning, but she still had her faith in him.

"Silence," Sesshoumaru said as Mari's sobs begin to get louder. The girl immediately complied and reduced the sound of her sobbing. "You will explain to this Sesshoumaru on who had sent you and your master's plans."

Rima knew that Mari was desperate to keep her life. "Mari, you better not—"

"Our master's name is Waru," Mari answered the demon lord. "I... I'm not sure why we were sent here, but our actual mission is to take you back alive, we were only suppose to knock you out. I... I heard they wanted to use you for their plan..."

Sesshoumaru's scowl only deepened. "Who does 'they' refer to?"

"Um... W-Waru-sama is the leader of the group in charge of the c-castle. The other group members are... J-Jikiko-sama and H-Himitsu-sama."

"Elaborate."

Mari let out a shaky breath. "Himitsu-sama is the one that taught us how... how to make the barrier. I don't know about... about Jikiko-sama much, b-but... I heard that she controls puppets..."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. So Jikiko must be the one who sent that puppet child to attack him. It also seemed that Himitsu was someone capable of magic. He had never heard of someone named Waru and Jikiko, but the name Himitsu was surprisingly familiar. The problem was that he couldn't recall where he had heard it.

Rima watched her sister with her eyes widened slightly as if to say something, but continued to keep her mouth closed.

Sesshoumaru turned around, walking away from the two sisters. He had enough information already. "Rin, Jaken, let's go."

"W-Wait! Aren't you going to kill us?!" Rima yelled.

"I have no use of ending the life of lowly youkai," was his answer.

Rima and Mari observed as the little human girl hopped onto the two-headed dragon. The toad walked by Sesshoumaru's side, asking the demon lord something. After they were gone, Rima turned her head at the sound of a very low and dangerous chuckling.

"M-Mari?" Rima asked, a bit scared with her sister's odd behavior.

"Did that arrogant dog thinks he could get away after he has killed our friends?" Mari said, her voice holding back a laugh, but her tone filled with anger.

"What are you saying? Even if we could avenge our friends, we won't stand a chance against that guy."

"No, we won't be the ones defeating him."

Rima's brows furrowed. "Huh?"

"There's a reason why I didn't tell him everything. If what the others said was true, then it means we have to wait until Mouretsu awakens."

"What? But we don't even know if Waru-sama is ever going to send him to fight Sesshoumaru, and we don't know if his seal is ever going to be broken. They said he has the strongest seal, remember?"

"Oh, despite what you think, I have a feeling that he is going to be the one to defeat that arrogant dog. I may not know when he's going to get into action, but I know he will... soon," Mari said and her laugh turned more maniac. "I figured it out."

Rima swallowed a lump in her throat, afraid to ask. "Figure...what?"

"Waru-sama is just waiting for the right time to release Mouretsu... and when he does..." Mari gave an eerie smile. "We won't have to worry about avenging our comrades anymore."

A/N: Yeah, it's finally done. This is probably the hardest chapter to work on because I had trouble trying to explain some things. I hope my writing during their battle was okay, because it looks better in my head compared to my writing lol.

Sorry if you spot any errors. I'll be editing this later. I just wanted to post this because I got tired of reading this over and over again (I swear I've read this document like ten times now), and I've decided that I had enough.

- Replies -

veetree03: Oh, it has been explained in chapter three why Inuyasha went totally unconscious. I'm sorry that the explaination wasn't clear enough, but it's because he uses his energy to heal himself faster, which drains his energy a lot.

meladi1: Jikiko is quite the mystery, isn't she? Oh, and I can imagine you having a hard time trying to understand the love triangle in Inuyasha haha. I mean, if I had a hard time trying to understand it as a teen, I don't know what it's like for kids who watched it during that time. And wow, you're lucky you had Inuyasha as your childhood. Mine was Naruto, but after watching Inuyasha, I wish it was Inuyasha.

Jexss: Hehe, thanks for reading!